How to bokashi compost

Bokashi composting is fast and easy. Simply add food waste to the indoor kitchen composter, sprinkle with the bokashi bran mixture, and wait for the results. It takes just 4 to 6 weeks for your food waste to be transformed into microbe and nutrient rich compost.

How to bokashi compost in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Add

You can put all food waste into your kitchen composter. Fruit, vegetables, cooked food, meat, dairy, grains and pasta are all fine; basically all food waste.

Step 2: Sprinkle

Next, sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of our premium bokashi bran mixture. Repeat each day until your bokashi bin is full. It will typically take around two weeks to fill your bokashi composter. Once full, seal the lid and let the bin sit for 2 weeks to complete the fermentation process.

Step 3: Bury

Your food scraps have now been transformed into microbe and nutrient-rich pre-compost, and is ready to be buried in your garden. You can bury your fermented food waste in your garden, compost pile, or potting containers.

Step 4: Grow

In two weeks the pre-compost will be transformed into the soil web, to the benefit of all plants and soil in the surrounding area. Plant roots will thrive on the newly added bokashi microbes and food waste nutrients. You are then ready to grow your favorite flowers, fruits and vegetables. Watch your garden flourish!

How to bokashi compost: videos

Watch our how-to videos to help you get the most out of your bokashi composting system. Why not subscribe to our youTube Channel or check back here regularly for new content and videos?

10 thoughts on “How to bokashi compost”

Hi Nicole, Thanks for the question. Absolutely, you can use your bokashi composter during the winter! Bokashi composting works throughout the whole year. The majority of the process happens inside the indoor kitchen composter in the convenience of your own kitchen. During the cold winter months, the fermented food waste will take longer to transform into compost after it is buried in your garden. But it will still work. A useful blog piece here about getting the most out of your bokashi composter in the winter. We hope that helps. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

I am using Bokashi composting for last 4 months for my kitchen waste. When I mix the Bokashi pre compost with coco peat and previously made compost using Bokashi method, a lot of white small larvae appear. How to prevent this? I am covering the composter bin with paper and not the proper lid as shown in your video. Is that a problem? The composter bin lid should have the holes or should it be Air tight?

Just to clarify. Are you making a soil factory with your bokashi pre-compost or are you adding it to an existing compost pile? If you are making a soil factory, we would recommend adding a lid. This does not need to be airtight but it should keep the rain water out and reduce problems of flies. We would also recommend having a few drainage holes in the bottom of your soil factory (unless you have it stored on a balcony or other place where the liquid would have nowhere to drain). The lid and the drainage holes will prevent moisture build up in the soil factory which can cause it to smell and attract flies (and maggots/larvae). Make sure to cover your pre-compost with a good few inches of coco peat and finished bokashi compost. This will also help prevent flies (and larvae/maggots) getting in your soil factory. Looking forward to hearing how you get on 🙂 Nicki and the Bokashi Living team

Hi Kate, Thanks for the question. This is a common situation for a lot of our customers and there are lots of options for handling your bokashi pre-compost in freezing conditions. The most common approaches are to add it to a compost pile (though that may be frozen and covered in snow), making a soil factory, storing the bokashi pre-compost until the spring, or a combination of all three. There is lots more information in this post here: https://bokashiliving.com/composting-in-the-cold-and-snow/

I hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions here. Happy composting 🙂

As you may already know, the bokashi pre-compost from your bokashi kitchen composter will look fairly similar to the food waste that you put into the bucket. The second stage (burying the pre-compost) is where your fermented food waste is broken down into the soil by the soil biota. The more life in your soil, the quicker the bokashi pre-compost will break down. The risk of mixing the pre-compost with peat moss and vermiculite is that there may not be much life in the soil to break down the pre-compost.

We would suggest either: (1) Adding 1:1 ratio (soil:pre-compost) to your square-foot mix. The bokashi pre-compost is more concentrated than completed compost that you would typically use. If you choose this method, you will need to wait 2 weeks before sowing or planting in the mix so that the bokashi pre-compost has browkn down and the pH of the mix is less acidic. (2) Using a soil factory or compost pile to finish your bokashi pre-compost before adding it to your mix. Once the bokashi has broken down you can add the finished bokashi compost to your mix and use it as soon as you are ready.

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have and happy composting, the Bokashi Living team

Interesting question. I don’t have first-hand experience of using bokashi tea on orchids but your orchids should love the boost of nutrients and microbes. Plus, most orchids tend to like a slightly acidic environment so they should do well with properly diluted bokashi tea. As you may be aware, bokashi tea is fairly acidic and we would typically recommend diluting it 1:100. However, for sensitive plants, such as orchids, you should probably start with closer to 1:500. Increase the concentration if your orchids can tolerate it.